I'm starting a thread in hopes that Cicak will post his recipes here. If anyone else has anything that they love to make or is a good recipe they like, feel free to add to it. Oh, and Fuddara, if you see this, feel free to post your Black Forest Cake recipe as well =)

Ingredients:
1 (18 oz.) box spice or german chocolate cake mix
1 (18 oz.) box white cake mix
1 pkg. white sandwich cookies
1 large box vanilla instant pudding mix
12 small tootsie rolls
1 litter box (preferably a NEW one!)
1 plastic scoop
green food coloring
Preparation:
Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans). Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in blender, they tend to stick, so scrape often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix using a fork or shake in a jar.
When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, mix with the cake and "feel" it, you don't want it soggy, just moist; gently combine.

Put mixture into clean litter box.
Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top, this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter. Heat remaining Tootsie Rolls, three at a time in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around. Serve with a new pooper scooper.

with the flat side of a meat pounder pound out the peices of meat. To around 1/8 of an inch thick, then make little slits around the edges of the chop to prevent curling and cut each chop in half. Transfer to a bowl.
Cook sugar in a dry 1 quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, (metal is a no no)until sugar is melted into a golden carmel. add the shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, and salt (cara,el will harden) and cook, stir constantly, until carmel is dissolved and shallos are spftened, about 2 minutes. Pour over pork and toss until well coated.
Heat a ligh;y oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking , then grill pork in batches, turning over omce, until just cooked through , about 1 minute per side. (Discard any remaing caramel sauce.)
Nice and simple I usualy use my BBQ when I do this dish I also have a side to accompany it but running out of time of to work. will post tonight. Enjoy and if this is a hit i will throw some summer recipes on for you as well

I'm vegetarian but I know most people aren't. Here's an easy recipe from when I ate chicken (If I can remember it). I won $50 for (I think just because it looks neat) so it can't be too horrible + it is very easy to make

Marinate the chicken cubes in the terryaki sauce and pineapple juice overnight or for an hour or for however long you have.

Thread the meat on skewers (leaving a good 1 - 2" open on the pointy side)

Grill chicken; basting often with marinade (just don't baste AFTER it is cooked, this marinade has raw meat juice -hello diseases!- in it).

While chicken is cooking, cut the bottom (as little as possible) off the pineapple so that you can stand it up on a plate (or platter, or keg, or whatever :p) without it falling over. When chicken is done, stick all the skewered chicken into (all around) the pineapple.

It makes a really cool looking edible centerpiece. Good when you want something a little more festive than a pile of hamburgers or if you are having a Luau or pool-party or something.

When I made a bunch of food for a New Years Eve-Eve party this was the first thing cleared off the table.

I think someday I'll try to make a modified vegetarian version of this with peppers, cherry tomatoes, onions and etc.

Someone asked me to post some vegetarian recipes up here (woot!) so let's see. I don't often use recipes, but mostly just memory of watching what my mom used/how she cooked and modifying it to be meatless.

Anyway, I usually end up making lasagne for meat-eating/vegetarian folks alike since it is the most "non-threatening" meatless meal I can think of. Nearly everyone loves lasagne, and those that don't....well, there's just something wrong with them and they don't need to come to my house anyway.

So here's how I make lasagne for the most part (Please keep in mind measurements are approximate, but lasagnas are messy and forgiving anyway- pretty hard to mess one up). Tip- lots of prep so buy stuff pre-grated, pre-sliced, etc if you want less work.

2) While noodles are boiling, sautee your onions, garlic, & peppers (and mushrooms if you like fungus, + the "other veggies"- NOT the spinach) in olive oil or butter or whatever (olive oil is best).

3) When onions become translucent, dump in the can of diced/crushed tomatoes, olives, and Italian herbs to taste and let this sauce simmer while you prep other ingredients.

4) Beat 1 egg into ricotta. Take cooked spinach and either in a cheesecloth (if you have one, I use paper towels or a clean dishtowel) and squeeze as much liquid out of it as you possibly can. Use those muscles, superman. Now add your cooked, chopped, squeezed spinach into ricotta-egg mixture.

5) Take a couple spoons of sauce and lightly cover the bottom of your casserole dish/baking pan/whatever. Lay 3 noodles (or 4 if your pan is big) in the bottom. Lighly layer with the following- a couple spoons of sauce, a thin layer of ricotta-spinach mixture, a thin layer mozarella and a thin layer of "other cheeses." Repeat this process until you've covered your lasagne with the last few noodles. On the top layer just put a little sauce, mozarella, and "other cheeses" (not the ricotta, use all that on the inside).

6) Bake in oven covered (foil works) for about 45 minutes, uncover and finish baking for about 15 minutes. Now, oven times/temperatures vary greatly so if this isnt' done, leave in longer. If it is cooking too fast, well take it out before it burns.

I made this for the new bf, and he had 3 pieces before he asked "OMG is there spinach in here?" so don't let that freak you out

Another recipe I just love (that is hard to mess up). This one is vegan (IE- Zero cholesterol, no saturated fat, high fiber/vitamins, and lots of flavor).

Creamy veggie curry with Basmati rice

-Basmati rice (other is ok too but this is best) cooked according to package (DON'T take of that lid while it is cooking!!!!! /slap your fingers).
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed
- 1 lg. white onion diced
- 1 each red & green bell pepper chopped
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped (if you don't like it, leave it out...but it is good for you anyhow)
- Curry powder (I use yellow- its mellow, use what you like)

1) Saute your onions/peppers/garlic briefly in a very large pan or pot, then add remaining veggies & garbanzo beans. You may want to add a splash of water or veggie broth or even a white wine to prevent sticking/drying out; cover and cook until all veggies are tender yet still firm....you don't want vegtable mush.

2) Drain veggies if there's a lot of liquid. Leave as is if there's only a couple tablespoons. Add can of coconut milk to veggies and 1 - 4 tablespoons curry powder (more or less as you like), simmer for a few minutes to give flavours a chance to blend.

Serve veggies next to or over basmati rice. You won't leave this meal feeling hungry, I promise.

Kerchak wrote:According to Food Network Guru Alton Brown, aluminum foil has a shiny side and a dull side as a result of the manufacturing process. So it makes no difference what side is up.

Ok , here is an answer from " Ask a Scientist " Web site..

"The shiny side is slightly better reflector of heat. Face that side of the foil in the
appropriate direction. To keep things cold, put the shiny side on the outside -- that
will reflect incoming heat. To keep things warm, face the shiny side inward toward the
hot food -- to reflect the heat that is trying to escape back into the food.

Note that people often bake potatoes with the shiny side out -- that is because it makes
for a better (prettier) presentation. In reality, baking them that way reflects the
incoming heat on the outside, slightly slowing the cooking process.

Of course, in reality, which side of the foil faces where makes little difference. It does
make for lively conversation, though."

Mix cinnamon with 1 cup (only) sugar until light brown; set aside. Cut crust off of bread and flatten with a rolling pin until 1/8 inch thick. Mix cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and egg yolks. Beat with electric mixer until creamy. Spread 2 teaspoons cream cheese mixture on 1 piece of bread. Roll into a log. Dip into melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place seam side down on a freezer safe container. Freeze until ready to use. Cut logs in half and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

My kids love these, also if you have an ADHD child like my son since i have to watch sugar and his nutrition with meds i use the splenda instead of sugar they dont even know the difference:)

Hey does anyone have the ediable play dough recipe its a kid recipe used to have it when i left upstate a few years ago i lost my personal recipes my 8yr old daughter just asked me if i could make it for her and her girlfriend for her sleepover this weekend , i searched the internet but not having any luck with finding it so i figured to ask here:)

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook and stir over low/medium heat until play dough is completely formed and no longer sticky. Allow to cool slightly before storing in an air tight container or zip lock bag.

Variations:
Add one package of unsweetened powdered Kool-Aid to your playdough to give it a great smell. (Thanks to James Slaughter for this variation).

Another fun use of koolaid (if folks aren't opposed) is it makes a fruity-smelling, very temporary colorful "punk" hair dye. It works especially well on blond hair, but works on other colors too.

Just take a package or two of (red/blue/whatever) kookaid, and mix it with a couple tablespoons of water. Dip a toothbrush in and brush it down a strand of hair. This has to be done in "play clothes" as it does stain.

Anyway it is a non-toxic hair dye/stain that lasts for just a couple days, and what kid doesn't want pink hair? Long live the 80s!